System of utilization of windmill-power.



H. C. BUSBY.

SYSTEM 0F UTILIZA'IION 0F WINDMILL Powe APPLXOATION TILBD APB. 9, 1909.

Pamad 99a. Vi., Mim.

Witnesses:

lli

UNITED STATES HOHER C. BUSBY. 0F BIBIINGHAI, LLABLIA..

SYSTEM 0F UTILISATION 0F WINDHILL-POWEB.

Bpeolcation of Lettori Bauli.

Patented Dec. 14, 1909.

Application Bleil Apri! 9, 1909. erlll lo. 88,828.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Home C. Busin', a citizen of the United States, and resident of Birmin ham, in the county of Jefferson and State o Alabama, have invented certain new and useful 1m rovi-ments in a System of Utilization of liVindinill-Power and I .do hereby declare that the following description of my seid invention, taken in connection with the nccoinpanyi sheet of d rawings, forms ii full, clear, an exact s ecilication, which will enable others skille in the art to which it appertains to make and use the suine.

This invention has general reference to an improved system of utilizing windmill power; and it consists, essentially, 1n the novel und peculiar combination of parts and details of construction, as hereinafter irst fully set forth and described, and then pointed out in the claims.

The drawing already referred to illustrates a diagrammatic plan of this improved system.

The ob'ect of this invention is the utilizetion of t e power of n series of windmills located at various points in a certain predetermined territory, by causing these mndmills to operate air-compressors at these windmill stations and to convey the compressed iiir by a system of piping to ii series of storage tanks and to supply a series of consuming stations in this territory with compressed air from these storage-tanks to operate compressed-air motors at the consuming stations for manufacturing and other purposes.

It is well known that the wind, or airciirrents in the atmosphere nre variable at different. und often adjacent, places, and that while there may be ut certain locatiolisu strong wind, there iiiiiy be no wind at ell at other near-by points. It, therefore, follows that when a manufacturing plant is fitted with its own windmill power, there iirc iniiny interruptions in the power-plant owing to luck of wind. nud that even when such manufacturing plant is provided with compressed-nir storage capacity, such stoppe res nre nevertheless more or less frequent. ily system is, therefore, designed to iivoid these stop irigzo by the eoii eration of ii series ol win mills located wit iin ii certain radius of nmniifiicturng pliuits to compress iiir and to mein supply should fall supply one or more main storage tanks with this compressed air and to run from such storage tanks piping to the various 00D- sumin plants or stations to operate com paresse -air motors; each consuming station ing supplied with a local compressed-air storage tank and a local compressed-air niotor and air-compressor adapted to take air from the siii-rounding atmosphere and compress it into the local storage tank whenever it will necessary to do so, such local compressed-iur motor being operated by air supplied from the main supply whenever the elow the normal pressure. required at the consiuiii station.

In this system there are place in the briinch supply pipin automatically operating viilves which, w en the i .essere in the main storage tanks und supply pipes falls below the required normal pressure at the consuming stations, will instant] close the connection between the main, an the local storage tanks, and turn the compressed air into a b -pass of the branch sup ly-pipe to the loca air-compressor opera by the local compressed-air motor, to take iiir from the surroundin atmosphere and compres it intothe local s orage tanktothenorinal pressu1'e,until tlieinain pressureshiill again exceed the normal pressure, when the automatic valve will close the by-pass and open the direct connection with the local storage tank. There are, in this system also pressure re uliitors, located near the local power-supp ying motor, to reduce any higher pressure to the normal pressure required at the local station, and check-valves in the by-pass to prevent the local iiirfcompressors from operating as iiiotors when the consuming station is being supplied with compressed air from the main supply. This series of windmills is permitted to operate continuously und uninterruptedly as long as one oiI more nre in the wind, so that. while nt some windmill stations there muy be calin und the windmills out of action, others iii the Series muy be operating, it bein reasonably certiiiii that at no lon r period o time will all the windmills in t ie series he inoperative.

A in the drawings designates ii series of windmills loeiited within ii certain territory, euch windmill being provided with n suitsible nir-compressor li, operated by said windmill.

C are a series of compressedair storage tanks located at convenient .points within the territory embraced by this system, and

- D are a series of sections of a main supply pige-system.

are pipes connecting tliemain air-compressors at the windmlls with the respective sections of the main supply pipes D. I

F are branch-pipes connecting the main storage tanks or the main supply p1 with auxiliary storage tanks located at e van ous consuming plants or statlons wherethe compressed air 1s to be utilized for furnishin power &c.

are the auxiliary storage tanks at; the consuming plants. 4 0

H are stop-valves placed in the main line D to cut out any section of said main line should such become necessary for any reason whatever.

I are coin massed-air motors, and i, aircompressors ocated at the consuming stations.

K are automatically o erating valves 1ocated in the branch supp y pipes F; L are by-passes connecting thebranch-pipes with the local storage tanks throu h ocal compressed-air motors I and pipin N are check-valves in the pipes adapted to prevent air from the local tanks from entering the local air-compressors and causing them to o ate as compressed-air motors when the ocal storage tanks are being su lied from the main supply.

are shut-oil' valves to cut ot any consuming station from the main supply whenever neeessa or desirable.

R are drains or automatic tra in the main line, and also in the brancies, when nccessa to drain the lines from water that ma col ect at the low points in said lines.

are the reducin valves, and T are the local motors adapte to furnish the power for the manufacturin plants.

The operation of t is system is substantially, as follows: Assume that the consuming stations require a steady pressure of 150 lbs. of compressed air. 'The windmills bein in operation, their nir compressors wi l puin i compressed air into the main supply and ranchos tu any high pressure that they muy lie adapted to pump, which high pressure will be reduced ut. the consuming motors to the normal pressure r uiicd. Should, however, by reason of insntlicieut nir-supply from the windmills the pressure in the main supply fall below the normal pressure of 150 lbs. per square inch, the automatically-operating vulves l( will immediately shut ol the nir supply in the branches F to the tanks (l und direct the sume into the bypass und to the compressed-nir motors `l` to operate the hitler to compress nir by the nir-com resem-s z' which luke uil' from tho sui'ronn ing nt,- inosiphorcl und pump it into the local tunku,

(or from the main-supply by iping, not shown, und further compress tlie suine to the required normal pressure). As soon as the pressure in the main supply exceeds the normal pressure of the consuming stations, the valv K will open the branch pi es F to the local tanks und shut o" the supp y to the bypass L M. It. will thus be observed that t is system of utilizing thc ower obtainable from a. series of windmils each supplied with its own means for com ressing air, operates practically automatically', and that there is scarcely a limit to the number of windmills and consuming stations that may be installed in this stem. lt will be furso ther observed that al the main tanks and supply pipes and branches are in intercommunication, so that there is a practically uniform air-pressure at all the various lines and stations, and that it is impossible for any one consuming station to be better supplied with comprsed air than the others. while by the introduction of the local aireompressin plants, each consuming station may provi e for its own standard or normal pressure by using the common supply as n means for operating the local air-compressinv lunt.

inve heretofore stated that the valves I( are automatically o erating to direct the com rinsed-air supp y either directly to the auxi iary storage tanks G, or indirect-ly through the lay-passes and the auxiliary compressed-air motors and auxiliary air-compressors, but I desire it understood that iu- 10o stead of automatically operating valves, I muy employ hand-operated valves, or threeway valves or analogous means for changing the flow 0f the air. S0 may a single consuming station or plant be operated by my System including n series of windmills enc i having its own air-coinpressor operated by said windmill, and delivering its compressed air to u common storage tunk or tanks, or intercommunicuting tanks, to be utilized at such plantu These und inuny other detailsI of construction muy be modified or changed to adapt this system to the varying topography of the territory in which the system muy be installed, without departing from the scope of my invention.

It is evident that the various compresseduir storage tanks and pipe lines may be supplied with safety-valves set to u predetermined pressure so that. should the supply of l20 compressed uir exceed the consumption ut. the consuinin'r stations, those safety-vulves will permit the escupe of such surplus air and prevent dunnig to the various tanks,

iipinga ulid machinery. 'Ihc shut-ntf vulves 125 -l muy ills-o be pluecd into euch of the vnrions pipingu so us to ennlilu uny section thereof beine` rut. out. whenever found nmossury or dcsiruhht lluving thus-i fully described this invention, I claim as new and desire to secure to me by Letters Patent of the United States- 1. In a system of utilizing wind-power for manufacturing and analogous ur the combination of a series of win mil s each of which is rovided with an air-compressor operated y said windmill; an air-storage tank; pi ing connecting each air-compressor with sait tank; a compressed-air motor connected b a sup ly-pipe with said storage tank andyadapteg to utilize the com air from the air-coin ressors at sai windmill r a pressure regu atoi between the tank and the motor in said sup ly pipe; a by-pass in said suppl -pipe; a va ve 1n said su plypi adapte( to direct the compresse( air eit 1er directl to said motor or indirectly through said y-pass, and an auxiliary compressed -air motor and auxiliary air-compressor in said byas s.

2. A system of uti izmg wind power, including, in combination, a series of windmills each of which is provided with an air-compressor operated by one of said windmills, main storage tanks; piping to connect these compressed air storage tanks with the aircompressors at the windmills; auxiliary compressed-air storage tanks; pi in to connect the main storage tanks wit t e auxil` iary storage tanks; a by-pass in said lastnamed piping; a compressed-air motor in said by-pass and an air-compressor operated by said motor; there being a valve in the said piping adapted to direct the How of compressed air in said piping either di rcctly into the auxiliary compressed air storage tank, or indirectly through the byass.

p 3. A system of utilizing wind power, including, in combination, a series of windmills cach of which is provided with an aircomprcssor operated by said windmill; main air-storage tanks; pi ing connecting these storage tanks with tie air-compressors at the windmills; auxiliary air storage tanks; piping to connect the auxiliary storage tanks with the main storage tanks; automatically operating valves in these pipes; a by-pass in each of these pipes, said automaticall operating valves being adapted to direct t e flow of air from the piping into the by-pass compressed-air motors in said bypasses an air'eompressors connected with said motors and operated thereb pressure regulators in said piping, and ciec valves in the bypasses to prevent the auxiliary aircompressors from operating as motors, as dcsci'ibed.

4. A system of utilizin wind power for manufacturing and una ogous purposes, comprising, in combination, a series of windmills located at various points within a predetermined territor each of said windmills being provided wit an air-compressor o elated by said windmill; main compressedaii' storage tanks; pi in connecting said main storage tanks wit t e air'coinpressors at the windmills; piping to connect these main storage tanks with each other; a series of consuming stations; auxiliary compressed air storage tanks at said coiisumiii r stations; branchipes connecting the auxii iai'y storage tanks with the main supplypipes and tanks; compressed-air motors at each consumin station and adapted to be operated by tie com Passed air from the auxiliary storage tants; by-passcs in said branch-pipes; auxiliary compressed-nir motors in said by-passes and auxiliary aircompressors operated by said auxiliary compressed-air motors to force compressed air into said auxiliary storage tanks; automatically-operating va ves in said branch piping and connected with said by-passes to direct the How of com ressed air from the main supply into sai by-pusses; pressure-regu laters in said piping, and check-valves in said by-passcs to reventV the auxiliary aircompressors from eilig operated as motors when the iow of compressed air from the main sup )ly is directly through the branch pi s to t e local compressed-air motors.

n testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have hereunto set iny hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

H. C. BUSBY. Witnesses:

lilioiiam. J. Smau, A. G. PirrniisoN. 

